Discreet Affection
by FictionerMcGee
Summary: Tigress has eyes only for Po. She has for the longest time, but only recently realizes this. After KFP2, the warriors of the Jade Palace are in a stage of peace until the largest bandit raid ever in the Valley of Peace occurs. The bandits are proving to be a major issue, all the while Tigress struggles with confessing to Po how she feels towards him. Will she be able to do it?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay. This one's reeeeeaaaaly long. I just don't feel like splitting this one up into chapters ;p (as of right now). Oh well, all the better for you readers out there! This is going to be my last entry for 3431jess's competition as it's going to be closing very soon! (Disclaimer: I don't own KFP. All works are credited to DreamWorks). I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it!**

* * *

 _"Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try." -Jack Canfield_

* * *

Affection. It's a simple nine letter word, yet it holds so much meaning behind it. There are those who may search far and wide for it but will never get a single glance at its true form while others might find it with little to no effort. Affection is a complicated and sometimes even a burdening emotion, yet most of everyone will agree that one cannot truly live without it.

Should we go out of our way to obtain it? Or should we simply wait for when the moment is opportune to actually reap its benefits, like when a mother spoon-feeds her child? The answer is actually quite simple, if you think about it long and hard enough. There is, in reality, no postulate, much less a definite answer to how one should pursue affection. Whether it be direct or subtle methods of obtaining this unexplainable euphoria, there is no right answer.

No matter who you are, from a charismatic and brave soldier to a stuttering and cowardly peasant, affection is present in everyone's lives. Although it is true one may have been so wrongfully denied this empty yet fulfilling emotion, nobody on this earth can proudly present their hand in the air and say, "I've never felt affection before in my life!" Like this elusive emotion, a certain panda is receding away from the arms and lips of a loved one, yet he does not even realize it. What will happen when his supposed counterpart finally makes her move?

Will this panda become aware of his ignorance? Or does he simply not return the same feelings as the one who has undoubtedly fallen for him? Love is simply not something one can easily manipulate, no matter how many people out there claim that they can. These things take time, like the growth and nourishment of a peach tree. Still, waiting for affection may be the greatest adversity one has to face, next to the possibility that the loved one may not reciprocate or even acknowledge your love towards them.

After all, how does one simply stand to pretend everything is normal when the one you love is breaking through your walls and social barriers without even knowing? As a pair of warriors starts out from a relationship of at first denial, then acceptance, then finally friendship, they grow closer than even before. Perhaps, they are both expecting something more than just friendship. Or they could merely be content with the way things are right now. Nobody knows, but there is no doubt that something will occur soon.

The growing suspense and insecurity, as well as the fragile bond between the two Kung Fu masters, is most definitely palpable. Like gunpowder barrels, their tender relationship is fit to explode from just the faint touch of a kindling spark.

Whether it'd be pleasant or disastrous, is up to how the two of them react towards each other.

Who knows? Perhaps a certain tiger may be blessed with the feelings of affection and caring she has yearned for her entire life...

* * *

The ironwood trees behind the Jade Palace looked especially lonely today, even though it was mid-morning. The sun was out, but it did little to improve the mood of the atmosphere that a current orange striped feline was practicing in. The Valley of Peace however, was the exact opposite of that secluded setting. In the valley, there were merchants to and fro selling and buying goods from the local residents. The soft chatter of everyone within the village square provided a sense of comfort. Of home.

Geese, sheep, rhinos, rabbits, and myriad others were lazily milling about, simply enjoying the time that they had as of right now. Sometimes, they would enter inside shops as a certain item of interest aroused their inevitable curiosity and more specifically, their coin pouches. All in all, it was a pretty normal day at the Valley of Peace. Even more so for the feline that was currently sending firm and unflinching punches towards an ironwood tree trunk. As the citizens of the valley would wander about aimlessly, she instead had her priorities set for the morning and had no wish of straying off from her intended goal.

*THUD*

Leaves rustled in protest as the orange feline with black stripes sent yet another assault towards the abnormally sturdy wood. A small crevice formed where she had just struck, but the tree looked indomitable nevertheless.

*THUD*

This time the ironwood tree trunk groaned in agony. The crevice was noticeably larger, and it looked like the tree swayed a bit. More leaves joined their previous companions in their slow descent towards the ground. The orange feline's face was scrunched up in concentration. A small bead of sweat glistened on her forehead containing a perfect set of symmetrical stripes, and the tigress nimbly wiped it off with the back of her massive paw before continuing.

*THUD*

With that final strike, the ten-foot tall ironwood tree was sent crashing down. The feline narrowed her eyes and maintained the posture of her concluding strike as the trunk gave way and caused the rest of the tree to follow its journey to the cold forest floor. She still remained completely still even after the tree shuddered for the last time as it came into contact with the earth and lay there unmoving afterward.

After a brief silence, with nothing but the rustling of the leaves from countless other ironwood trees around her to fill in the empty noise, the tigress finally relaxed her Kung Fu stance and let out a small exhale of relief. Her crimson red eyes swept over the length of the fallen tree and she allowed a small triumphant smirk to show across her normally stoic features before receding back to its original neutral state.

The orange feline unsheathed her claws and angled them so that they gleamed in the warm sunlight that shone down upon her. She was examining them to check for any signs of damage or if any amounts of grime had worked their way underneath her digits while she was practicing. Fortunately, she found none and retracted them back into their respective sockets. She nodded once in satisfaction, her tail swishing slowly from side to side.

The Kung Fu master proceeded to head back into the Jade Palace so she wouldn't miss Po's breakfast and to meet the mentioned panda as well as the rest of the members of the Furious Five. The feline had only taken three steps towards the direction of the Jade Palace before her ears heard a distinctly loud sound of admiration coming from the right side of her.

"Woah Tigress! So... undeniably... awesome..."

Po, none other than the legendary Dragon Warrior, had his voice crescendo higher and higher as he expressed his idolization with a round of applause. Well, he would have clapped, but he was currently holding a straw-woven basket with two bowls inside of it. One had the distinct scent of steamed bean buns while another had the strong scent of fried tofu within the basket.

The mentioned feline caught sight of the large panda in her peripheral vision and turned around the rest of the way to face him comfortably. Po was grinning toothily at her and she couldn't resist offering a slight smile at his presence. It was odd how well the panda could sway her moods so easily and without even realizing it nonetheless. She wondered if Po himself realized the effect that his actions had towards her.

Probably not.

Still, it couldn't hurt to be optimistic. Tigress waited for the panda to approach even closer to her and he did not disappoint.

"You know, the rest of the Five are already finished with breakfast..."

"Oh. My apologies. I wasn't aware. I was... occupied with my thoughts."

"That's okay," replied Po, "that's why I brought these! Behold!" The Dragon Warrior, ever the melodramatic panda, brandished the basket that he had carried towards her as if it were the Legendary Sword of Heroes itself. The orange feline cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow teasingly. She decided to join the panda in his antics. She could already smell the enticing scent of the contents within the basket from a mile away.

"Do tell me Panda, what exactly IS in that basket of yours?"

Po did not miss a single beat in his reply. "The exotic, flavorable and pleasing foods of bean buns and tofu! Fried tofu, to top it all off!

Tigress went over to the length of the deforested tree and laid her back upon it, waving a single striped paw to beckon the panda to join her. Po eagerly sat down next to the awaiting feline and got out both of their breakfasts for the morning. The panda gingerly handed the bowl of fried tofu as well as a pair of chopsticks over to Tigress, who nodded in gratitude, before taking out his steamed bean buns.

Tigress delicately grabbed a single tofu between her utensil before examining it in a show of extreme cautiousness. Po stopped mid-bite and swung his head sideways to glance at her inquiringly.

"Really? Fried? You know that this stuff will not be good for me in the long run, right Po?"

The panda merely offered her his signature smile, knowing full well that the feline usually preferred something that wasn't high in fat first thing in the morning. Po didn't really have to care about his figure. In fact, the more he ate the more damage he could do to any opposing bandits that he would come across. He truly was lucky to be one of the few individuals to be able to commit themselves to not just lose weight, but the exact opposite.

The Dragon Warrior could defeat warriors left and right, and to and fro. Surely he couldn't be blamed for having a massive appetite like say, a dragon for instance? It would only be right if the Dragon Warrior lived up to his name, and Po seemed to have that same mindset.

"Come on Tigress! You've been sticking to that disgusting raw stuff for forever! I know that Master Shifu trained you to uphold a certain diet, but everyone can relax a little every now and then, right? Besides, you know you want to..."

Po lowered his voice a little and pouted, making his intended target look away with a slight expression of reluctance on her face. Tigress was well accustomed to the panda's "begging face", but even someone as mentally composed and trained as the orange feline could not stand up to Po's relentless act of pleading.

Tigress kept her gaze firmly on anything that concealed the panda's facial features from her field of view, but it was an effort in vain. The feline stubbornly put down her chopsticks and bowl and crossed her arms, refusing to acknowledge her persistent companion's presence.

She then fainted inwardly. The only exterior signs of her discomfort were the rapid twitching of her long tail from side to side and the sharp intake of breath that she had just barely suppressed. Po moved while the feline was looking away from him and had taken himself to sitting directly in front of her before craning his back forwards as much as his anatomy could offer to capture her undivided attention.

Po and Tigress were nearly nose-to-nose with barely any space in between them. They could both feel each other's warm breaths as all was quiet in the ironwood forest. Tigress did not have any leverage to move backward as the tree strongly stood firm against her back that was seemingly attempting to merge into it. The Dragon Warrior had not stopped his irresistible look while all this time, and his jade green eyes locked onto her crimson red ones.

Tigress could not bring herself to push the panda away from her as she had long since been abducted by the depths of his pupils with her own. The feline did not dare breathe, but Po seemed perfectly content with being this up close and personal to her.

 _"So... green... and enrapturing,"_ thought Tigress, _"I feel like I could melt into them if he stared at me long enough. And his expression. It's so hard... to... resist..."_

Then the panda whined liked a dog that had been wounded. After that, Tigress almost physically melted. The way Po sounded made her heart break in adoration. She was snapped out of her reverie and blushed profusely, though her orange fur did well to conceal much of her embarrassment. The feline stuttered in trying to come up with a retort, and it also sounded like she was simply spouting anything that could be of possible leverage from the top of her head.

Po's saddened expression turned to one of triumph when he noticed how flustered he was able to make the feline.

Tigress was visibly blushing at this point, and the Dragon Warrior's smile only grew larger when the feline was stuttering even more than her initial rounds of discomfort. Eventually, after a brief moment of awkwardness (mainly for the feline, the panda was enjoying every second of his legendary skills of persuasion), Po finally quirked an eyebrow and spoke in the same teasing tone as Tigress gave him.

"Well? Are you just going to let this perfectly fried tofu go to waste? Can you pleeeeaaaaase eat it? I took a while in making these just for you..."

It was then the feline surrendered. Actually, she capitulated a long time ago, but it was now that she officially announced it in a verbal manner. Tigress berated herself mentally. How could she, a well respected Kung Fu master that has been training since she was a child, fall victim to childish tactics coming from an even more childish person? Life works in mysterious ways, was the consolation that she eventually settled her disgruntled state of mind on.

Tigress sighed exasperatedly in resignation before speaking. "Alright, Panda... You win. I'll eat the fried tofu that you oh-so poured out your heart and soul just to make for the single purpose for me to enjoy it."

"Yesss!" The Dragon Warrior cheered out loud. He casually enlarged the distance between the both of them again by moving back to where he originally was along the length of the fallen tree. Tigress felt an odd pang of regret deep within her stomach. Perhaps being close to her panda companion did in fact make her feel at home. At least, to a certain extent it did. The striped feline shook her thoughts from her head and decided to just enjoy the moment. Tigress took a tentative bite out of the tofu and was pleased to find the warm and satisfactory flavors enter her taste buds.

Both warriors stayed like that for a while. Just leaning on the tree with nothing to worry about. It was a "bliss" that the two mutually shared, much to their happiness. Actually, Po seemed outwardly joyous, but underneath the feline's naturally reserved and composed exterior, the feisty Kung Fu master probably felt the same if she decided to look deep within herself for the inevitable truth.

Eventually, it was Tigress that chose to break the comfortable silence between the two of them. Well, it was as silent as it could be with the loud and obnoxious sounds of the panda trying to quickly finish his bowl of steamed bean buns. Tigress swiveled her head slowly to the side, choosing to examine the Dragon Warrior's figure inconspicuously before initiating a conversation.

"Po?"

"Hmmm?" The panda was just about to reach for the last of his breakfast before he was interrupted. He turned to meet her friendly, relaxed gaze. He was grateful that he was the only one that Tigress was able to be at ease with.

"You're really spoiling me. You know that?"

Po didn't give a response with her words. He merely "mmhmmed" happily in acknowledgment and fully laid his as much of his back against the sideways ironwood tree as he could in order to fully utilize the length of Tigress's successful training session. Though Po seemed nonchalant towards his feline friend's accusation, Tigress noticed a slight hint of a victorious smirk upon his features.

The feline too decided to further relax upon their unusual "picnic" setup and brought both of her knees to her torso while hugging her legs with her arms. Her tail swished lazily in a serene manner. The silence arrived once again. Both Tigress and Po had their eyes closed in peace, each one relishing the moment they were having. It was not too long after that the feline heard a loud chewing sound that was concluded with an even more audible gulp. After that, there was a burp that was released loudly enough to pop her sensitive cat ears.

Tigress opened her eyes to find the Dragon Warrior standing in front of her. This time, at a respectable distance. Po extended his paw out towards her, his eyes mischievously twinkling and betraying that he too was thinking of what had just happened between them before. Tigress rolled her eyes at his currently flirtatious behavior but nevertheless grabbed his paw in acceptance. Once she was up, Po reached for the basket and placed her chopsticks as well as both of their bowls into the container.

The Dragon Warrior popped the cricks that had developed on the side of his neck both ways before speaking. "We should head back. I already told Master Shifu that I would show up back at the training hall at a certain time with you, and I'm pretty sure that we're almost about to be late. Heheh, I'm sure that Shifu will understand. Besides, it's not like our good old master has never been late to a meeting or event anyways. At least, I hope not... That would be flat-out creepy."

"What?"

"Never mind. Now let's go! I REALLY don't feel like having an elderly red panda beat me up with a stick so soon in the morning."

"Alright. I suppose we should make haste then. No matter how much the sight of you in pain brings a smile to my face."

Po shot her a look of disbelief. Tigress kept looking ahead, pleased that she managed to push the Dragon Warrior's buttons. Still, he came up with a witty remark of his own. "Race you there then! You sadist!"

"..."

By the time Tigress fully comprehended what Po had just said, he was already running full sprint towards the direction of the Jade Palace. He even had time to look back and flash her an arrogant smile before sticking out his tongue lightheartedly and subsequently bolting away into the myriad ironwood trees.

The feline blinked once in surprise. Once the realization kicked in and took hold of her cognitive anatomy she growled menacingly, but with a slight hint of playfulness in her tone.

 _"Oh, so that's how he's going to be? Urgh, the audacity of that panda. If-, no WHEN I get my paws on him..."_

Tigress quickly got down on all fours and pursued the panda. Her sharp sense of smell would assist her in pinning down his location. If she was lucky, she might even reach him before he is even able to set a single foot in the training hall floor. She inwardly smirked when she pictured how high he would squeal when she caught him. Perhaps, she was a sadist. Oh well, the panda is still going to regret calling her that. No one got away with teasing her. At least, not the Dragon Warrior. And definitely not two consecutive times in a row.

"COME BACK HERE PANDA! DON'T MAKE ME CHASE YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE PALACE! THERE'LL BE NO SAFE PLACE FOR YOU TO HIDE IN ALL OF CHINA IF IT COMES TO THAT!"

True, the feline was a little put-off by her fellow warrior's off-hand remark, but she was still enjoying it nevertheless. Even in her childhood, the feline was never able to make any friends, and her relationship with the Furious Five was strictly business related until Po came along. It felt... good to be able to have someone that you could call a friend. Maybe even something more if she thought long and hard about it...

Of course, Tigress would never let the panda know this. A kung fu master and the leader of the Furious Five had to maintain her dignity somehow.

Speaking of which, she was so going to enjoy making the Dragon Warrior pay for his taunt.

"I'M GETTING CLOSER PANDA! FACE ME AND I MIGHT LET YOU LIVE!"

"...I THINK I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES!"

Tigress smirked. She was definitely going to take pleasure in putting the panda where he belonged. Even so, she was glad to have someone like Po included within her daily life.

* * *

It was between noon and the evening. The sun was still blazing brightly in the sky with little to no clouds obscuring its indomitable rays. The Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior were all training in the training hall. In regards to the chase between a certain feline and an even more certain panda, it was evident that the striped figure had caught him. Po was rubbing an extremely sore looking bruise on the side of his arm while pouting at Tigress, who seemed to not have noticed.

It was understandable as the feline master was currently engrossed in a heated sparring match between herself and her fellow kung fu master, Crane. The avian was battling her in his own element, which was in the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom. Essentially, it was a semi-circle that was around the same size as a boxing ring with a large space in the center all the way to its rim in order to challenge the person's sense and skills related to grace and balance. The Jade Tortoise of Wisdom had a detailed imprint of a tortoise shell that ran all along its circumference and was made entirely of jade. Obviously.

Both of those should have probably been better off left unsaid. As for the "wisdom" part, the unorthodox boxing ring was dedicated to Grandmaster Oogway, the creator of Kung Fu. This training area was just one out of countless other tributes that were offered to the tortoise who possessed an uncanny amount of sagacity within his seemingly frail, but actually rock-hard figure.

Tigress and Crane were battling it out, neither one wanting to make themselves look weak or inconsequential by forfeiting the match. Monkey, Viper, Mantis, and Po were all gathered together a safe distance away from the large tortoise shell, watching the match in eager anticipation from the sidelines.

The Training Hall doors were shut tightly, so they completely muffled the sounds of labored breathing, strong exchanges of punches and kicks, the occasional excited whisper coming from the spectators, and the droning sound that emitted from the giant tortoise shell as it rocked violently from side to side from the perpetrators that were trying to unbalance the other and hopefully knock each other off.

No one in the Valley of Peace could hear the non-stop training of the two warriors that had sworn to dedicate their lives to protect the Valley as long as they were considered a member of the Furious Five. To be honest, the sound of wood breaking and splintering, as well as the constant grunts of concentration for a good majority of the day, would probably give anyone down at the village a migraine as intense as if they would have just woken up from an especially intoxicated hangover. Perhaps it would be better off if the Valley of Peace residents were kept unaware of the effort that the collective seven warriors, including Master Shifu, put in to prepare for the worst should it ever come to that situation.

Back at the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom, it seemed that the two masters were currently at a standoff. Crane was perching with one leg on the thin rim of the shell with another leg raised in order to attack or defend himself, should he need to. Tigress herself was balancing perfectly on two feet on the other side opposite of the avian, causing the irregularly shaped training arena to level itself out as much as it could in the center of gravity. The feline had both arms extended, but not too far in order to anticipate or intercept her opponent's plan of offense.

Nothing could be heard within the training hall at this point. The four spectators were all collectively holding their breaths, almost ready to burst from the suspense that was building between the two sparring masters. Monkey's tail twitched once in anticipation, but nothing else could be seen moving after that. It was as if the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior had all stopped to pose for a painting and were told to remain still until the artist informed them that they could move once again.

The stillness of the environment grew even longer and longer to the point that any form of motion, even if you were just watching the sparring match could be considered a crime in fighting etiquette.

Suddenly, just as Tigress discreetly formulated a plan to take down her fellow kung fu master and was about to launch herself towards him, a none-too-subtle messenger goose wearing the Jade Palace's iconic robes of recognition burst through the doors at an alarmingly swift speed.

"MASTERS! WE NEED YOUR HELP DOWN AT THE VALLEY OF PEACE RIGHT NOW! IT'S A FULL-SCALE BANDIT RAID! SHIFU CAN'T HOLD THE DEFENSE OF THE VALLEY FOR FOREVER!"

The extremely loud entrance into the Training Hall caused the feline to stagger ungracefully and almost lose her footing upon the Jade Palace of Wisdom, as well as eliciting a startled gasp from her. Po, as well as Monkey, Viper, and Mantis jumped together synchronously in surprise as the very abrupt interruption of what could only be assumed to be the sparring match of the dynasty.

Unfortunately, Crane was also surprised by the messenger goose's arrival and fell square in the middle of the circular tortoise shell. His straw rice hat did little to protect his skull and he ended his graceless tumble with an annoyed groan.

Eventually, it was Tigress who recovered first from the initial shock and spoke up for the group of warriors.

"Zeng! Can you be more specific as to where they are?!"

"THEY'RE...EVERYWHERE IN THE VALLEY! THEY MUST HAVE ARRIVED THE NIGHT BEFORE IN ORDER TO REMAIN HIDDEN BY OUR CITY SCOUTS!"

Tigress took in a sharp intake of breath before facing the five other warriors who returned the same concern. Her eyes narrowed slightly. This was no time for hesitation. She brought a single digit to where Crane was standing and said, "We'll finish this later."

The avian could only gulp nervously in response. He adjusted his straw hat so that it was pointing down and the feline's unwavering stare was cut off from his field of view. Tigress continued.

"Well? You heard Zeng. Let's split up and head down to the Valley. Chances are we'll be badly outnumbered. Crane will be doing what he can from the skies and assist you should you need it. Now let's go!"

And just like that, The Furious Five (minus Tigress), whooped and cheered in excitement as well as the Dragon Warrior who seemed to be the main backbone for their sense of motivation. Clearly, the feline was a perfect fit for being the leader of the Jade Palace residents. Next to Shifu, of course.

The six warriors collectively ran past an exhausted looking Zeng and sprinted down the One-Thousand Steps with relative ease. Well, Po was getting a free ride by hanging on from the long feet of the avian master, who by now had finally grown accustomed to the panda's exceptionally heavy weight. It was still quite a large feat in transporting the giant panda from one place to another, and at such a quick speed nonetheless. After this, Crane was going to have a word with Po about formulating a new diet plan for him. Whether he liked it or not.

Once the six warriors had made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs, Tigress scanned her surroundings. She as well as the rest of the Five and the Dragon Warrior was shocked to come to terms with what they saw. The Valley was in complete disarray and a frantic mess of villagers were still screaming as they ran from a seemingly infinite number of bandits.

Shops were being ransacked, carts were being looted and anyone unfortunate enough to come into a stray bandit's view was immediately mugged of all the valuable belongings they had. The entire scene was something out of a dramatic play, with too much chaos happening everywhere to be able to focus on an individual priority. Just then, a loud cry of anguish that was mixed in with a little anger broke into the midst of all the loud turmoil.

"Get your filthy paws off my favorite ladle you no-good, trouble making-, AGHHH!" Only a certain goose would have the courage to protect his utensils even in the midst of a raid.

Tigress shook her head to clear her thoughts. The feline took the initiative once more. She nodded at Crane, who nodded back in understanding before taking to the skies, providing aerial support to as many people as he could. Tigress then looked back at the remaining warriors who were awaiting instruction.

"You," commanded the feline as she gestured towards Monkey, "Head to the merchandising district and clear out what bandits you can. Again, Crane will be assisting those who need it." Monkey nodded grimly in response before climbing an adjacent building and going to his designated area via the rooftops.

That left Viper, Mantis, and Po to look on curiously at her, ready for their instructions. She again pointed at the rest of the warriors subsequently, one after the other in that order.

"Viper, go down to the south side where the docks are. Mantis, see if you can join Master Shifu. He should theoretically be defending the east side where most of the agriculture lies. As for you Po, we're pressed for time and don't have enough warriors to cover enough ground. Deal with Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop problem first and then clear out the entire west side of the Valley before joining me in the center, where it will likely be the heaviest down there. Everyone got it?"

Viper and Mantis established where they would meet up after they were done with their sectors before turning around to reinforce their control within the Valley. Po, ever the pragmatist, shot his feline companion a look of worry. Tigress smoothly walked up to the slightly distraught panda before placing a reassuring paw upon his broad shoulder.

"I know that me taking the center of the Valley sounds bad, but that's why I want YOU to come and help once you're done. As much as I respect our fellow masters' skills, I feel that you and I work the best together without any distractions or anyone pulling us down by making us fret for their safety. Do you understand?"

The Dragon Warrior looked ready to argue but then nodded his head numbly in compliance. Tigress gave a ghost of a smile before saying, "Good. Now let's part ways for now. Time is precious. Even more so when precious lives are on the line."

And with that Tigress sprinted quickly away on all fours into the midst of the village, where the sounds of clashing metals and terrified shrieks for help were heard the most prominent. The Dragon Warrior let out the breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding in and ran as fast as his legs could take him to his dad's noodle shop.

He didn't have very far to travel, so the panda made it to Mr. Ping's shop just in time to deflect a cleaver that was headed for the frail goose's neck with a stray wok that he had scooped up. Po hastily brought a single fist and smashed it firmly into the skull of the croc bandit that was wielding it, effectively rendering him unconscious.

"That's my boy! I knew you would come sooner or later!" Po's dad ran up to him and gave him a tight embrace, his noodle hat long gone from where it used to lie on his aging cranium. It was probably lost from the rush of the turmoil as the residents all fled the shop in a hurry once the croc had arrived.

Po was reluctant to, but managed to separate the two of them from extending the hug any longer. The panda still held onto his father's shoulders in order to maintain eye contact with him. Mr. Ping was perfectly fine except for a couple strands of puffed up feathers, but the same could not be said about the shop he owned and managed.

"Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu" looked like a complete mess, most likely from the bandit thrashing around trying to take any item of interest while he still could.

Almost every table was almost flipped over, the banner that proudly showed the name of the famous restaurant was long gone, and myriad plates of prepared dishes as well as the food that was in it were spread around all over the floor, looking similar to when Po was working on the first day on the job as an assistant cleaning his dad's noodle shop.

The Dragon Warrior stopped observing the extent of the damage towards his dad's shop and focused on the goose himself.

"Dad. It's not safe to be outside right now. I need you to go the cellar where all the ingredients are stored and stay there until I or any of the Five say it's okay to come out, alright?"

"But what about you son?" Mr. Ping glanced worriedly outside as if another bandit would suddenly run in and ransack his shop once more. Po showed off his signature grin in order to console his stressing father.

"Don't worry about me dad. If anything, you should worry if I don't show up to help you with the dinner rush today. Then there'll be an actual problem. Besides, I'm the Dragon Warrior! It's sort of my job and something that I've been trained for since the day I entered the Jade Palace in to be able to protect you guys like this should the time come! You're helping me a lot more than you think by staying safe and out of the way while I'm concentrating on other things."

Mr. Ping let out a tired-sounding sigh before agreeing with what his son had said. He then opened the wooden door into his restaurant before being stopped again by Po's voice.

"Wait!" The Dragon Warrior quickly went over to the cleaver that was lying on the ground a fair distance way and handed it gingerly to Mr. Ping. The goose wrapped a wing around it and grasped it firmly while nodding to his son in gratitude.

"Just in case," said Po, "you never know even though chances of that ever happening are pretty slim. Take care of yourself Dad. I'll be back as soon as I can." The Dragon Warrior waved a single arm in goodbye before quickly leaving the ruined shop in order to respond to a cry of terror that was heard not far off from where he was at currently.

Mr. Ping clutched the cleaver with a vice-like grip unusual for a bird of his age and headed into the cellar beneath his shop where all the ingredients needed to make his popular dishes were stored. The elderly goose tried his best to block out the sounds of metal clashing on metal along with the yells coming from both the citizens of the Valley and the bandits.

The goose closed his cellar door and padlocked it shut, but not before mumbling indignantly, "That crocodile almost chopped off my head with my very own lucky cleaver of all things... Hmmph! The absolute nerve of bandits these days!"

* * *

At the docks of the Valley of Peace a fair distance away from the main village within its center, Viper was quickly disarming bandits with a single swipe of her tail and knocking them out shortly afterward. The snake quickly moved onto the next set of bandits, only pausing to scan her surroundings for villagers that needed her help. Viper sighed to herself mentally while snapping a deadly-looking spear in half with an accurate snap of her jaws and flinging its wielder, an ox, into the lake without much effort.

Her area that she was defending was almost fully liberated from the horde of bandits that were now either unconscious, fleeing as quickly as they could, or being careless and trying to get a couple parting strikes at the scaly kung fu master. Obviously, those that did do that were not satisfied with the end result of their actions. Weapons, as well as the bandits themselves, were all lying in an organized heap on a separate area of the port. Viper always was the type of snake to make things as organized and aesthetically pleasing as possible, no matter what it was.

Viper glanced at the pile and tried to estimate the number of bandits that she had single-handedly taken out. Her guess was around forty, with the actual amount being a little higher than what she assumed. The scaly Kung Fu master exhaled slowly in contentment as she looked at the now safe region within the Valley of Peace.

She glanced upwards as a familiar shadow blocked the sunlight from her view briefly before landing down next to her. Crane panted quietly and stretched his wings in a tired manner before acknowledging the snake that was now readjusting the two lotus flower clips that lay delicately upon her head with her tail.

"I see you've been busy Viper," said the avian approvingly as he glanced around at the wreckage of would-be miscreants that lay near her.

"Mmhmm. And what have you been doing Crane?" Viper gave him a slightly suspicious look before checking out the state of the three perfectly spaced beads that hung near the base of her black tail. They were still looking as undamaged as they were before her scuffle, much to Viper's delight.

"Tigress made me scout around the Valley in order to help you guys should you need it, but- well... As you can see..." Crane gestured around her, indicating that the situation with bandits in the docks was already resolved before he had time to swoop down and assist his green snake companion. Crane laughed a little nervously before continuing at the snake's light glare of reprimanding.

"I decided to instead fly to Chorh-Gom Prison as fast as I could to inform the guards of our bandit outbreak here in the Valley. With any luck, they'll be arriving shortly to arrest these various troublemakers and offer their services to protect our village. Speaking of which..."

"Yes?" Viper raised a brow questioningly.

"Monkey is struggling a bit to hold back all the bandits in the merchandising district. We should head there quickly as back-up. Here. Hop on. It'll be faster this way." Crane lowered his long neck slowly and gracefully as Viper slithered up and along its length with a grateful sounding hiss. It was a second later that with a mighty flap of his wings, the pair were already high in the sky and heading to their intended location. Viper let out a surprised sounding squeal as this happened.

"Wait," she said abruptly, "What about Mantis and Master Shifu and the others?"

Crane did not pause in his flying as he replied. "The last time I checked, the first two seemed to be perfectly fine. I think you should be more concerned about the unfortunate bandits who are going up against them. As for Po and Tigress, I'm not sure about their situation as of right now. We'll head there immediately after Monkey. He currently needs the most assistance from us."

Viper nodded in understanding. The relentless wind was gushing around her sides and Crane's as well due to the speed of his flight. Seconds after, the flying pair made it to the merchandising district. Countless amounts of carts along with shops were seen in a destroyed state. Nobody was seen within the area. Perhaps they had all fled the scene just in the nick of time. Or had been killed or kidnapped by the intruding antagonists. Hopefully, it was the former other than the latter.

Crane gradually decelerated in order to allow both him and Viper to take in their surroundings with greater detail. The duo was currently hovering above the merchandising district with a comfortable distance for picking out what needed to be done first. Crane felt a bead of sweat develop along his neck as the golden furred simian known as Monkey was nowhere to be seen.

Viper and shivered nervously. "Crane?"

"Y- Yes?"

"You don't think that he's..."

"..." The avian was silent for a while as he pondered what to say. He eventually came up with a logical statement to tell the slightly distressed snake that was coiling around his neck tighter and tighter in anxiety as the time progressed.

"Let's not jump to any sudden conclusions for now, alright? Monkey's had worse than this. He's a kung fu master for a good reason. Now let's keep our eyes peeled."

"Okay..."

The minutes went by uneventfully, which was the scariest thing that the two warriors encountered. Crane and Viper flew among the wreckage of shops and carts, calling out Monkey's name in the hopes that the langur would respond to their cries. There was still no sign of Monkey.

Crane and Viper were just about to assume the worst, with Crane shaking his head repeatedly from side-to-side in denial and Viper fighting back tears when suddenly, out of nowhere, an irregularly massive water buffalo was launched out a wall that belonged to one of the few stores that were still left standing even after the chaos of the bandits' arrival.

Following shortly afterward was an ecstatic yell as an all too familiar character nimbly leaped through the large hole in the shop that the carabao had unfortunately broken through. His eyes betrayed his jubilation as his tail displayed his natural mischievousness and overall carefree nature. Monkey glanced briefly at his defeated opponent that groaned miserably in pain from the sheer impact of the collision.

"You thought you could take ME one-on-one with only your fists? HAH! THINK AGAIN TEMUTAI!"

Monkey whooped and hollered in excitement before noticing the avian and the snake staring at him with their mouths wide open. He coughed once to refocus their attention and asked, "Uhhhhh, what's going on guys? Things going well in your part of the Valley?"

"MONKEY!" Both shocked masters screamed his name. Whether it was out of joy, relief, or anger was debatable.

"What- Oomph!"

The simian was interrupted by both Crane and Viper rushing up to him and embracing him tightly, but not enough to cause pain. Monkey chuckled lightly, only to shrink back when he saw the glares of his two companions that was strong enough to melt steel as well as them separating the group hug abruptly.

"We thought that you died!" Viper stated this with clear worry in her tone, Crane mirroring the fretful look on the snake's features. Monkey scratched the top of his head lightly.

"What gave you THAT thought of all things?"

It was Crane that spoke this time. "I don't know... Maybe the lack of anyone around, or all the destruction within this area, or possibly THE LACK OF YOU EVEN RESPONDING TO US FOR THE LAST COUPLE MINUTES!"

Monkey winced at the severity of Crane's tone but proceeded to justify himself.

"Well, for one, I was able to evacuate all the villagers before anything too bad occurred. Two, all this destruction is just because of Temutai right here," Monkey lightly tapped the burly carabao on his forehead with a single finger, eliciting an extremely pained whimper from him. "And three," the langar continued, I was just a little busy trying to take down the self-proclaimed 'Warrior King of the Qidan' to be able to answer you."

"Well making your fellow masters worry like that is not very professional, Monkey. I commend your vigilance of the situation, but make sure that communication between your companions is also one of your main priorities. After all, how will you be able to inform anyone that you need help, even though you were lucky enough to leave this confrontation unharmed?"

Crane, Viper, and Monkey all jumped at their master's unexpected appearance as well as Mantis's, but the green insect did not say anything yet. Monkey, after listening to Master Shifu's words, bowed fist-in-palm and said, "Yes Master Shifu. My apologies."

Mantis then spoke to the rest of their little group.

"So... Temutai caused ALL of this?" The green insect looked around him disbelievingly.

"Heheh, pretty much." Monkey chuckled sheepishly as he confirmed this.

"Man. Of course that water buffalo would completely ruin the only shop that I ever go to in this district. Why wouldn't he?"

Mantis hopped delicately a fair distance away from the cluster of kung fu masters and picked up a small wooden chunk. It was clearly from a sign belonging to a shop, but the shop was nowhere to be found. The green insect sighed dejectedly before chucking the single wooden piece into the myriad wreckage around them. Viper slithered over to him and reassuringly said, "There'll be more antique mini-nunchuck shops in the future Mantis. I promise."

The insect only nodded once in acknowledgment. Master Shifu then cleared his throat to attract the others' attention.

"It would seem that those of us who are able to show up here have dealt with the bandit problems surrounding some of the regions within the Valley, am I correct?"

The four pupils of Master Shifu nodded together in confirmation.

"Alright. Apparently, the Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress are the only ones that are heavily occupied at the moment. Monkey and Mantis, I want the two of you to find where the panda is and aid him. As for you, Crane and Viper, you'll be joining me to help Tigress. I last saw her in the central district, battling a massive horde of bandits by herself. Once Po and his backup team resolve the conflict in his area, they'll be joining us in taking back the central district. Understood?"

"Yes, Master Shifu!" The members of the Furious Five, excluding Tigress, and Master Shifu all went their own ways to confront the situation of the remaining bandits. As Shifu, Crane, and Viper bustled towards the center district of the Valley of Peace, the sounds of battle grew louder and louder with every step they took. It still seemed like there a lot of bandits within the area.

Shifu unconsciously started running faster to reach their destination, with Crane and Viper keeping up shortly after. They all fretted for their feline master.

* * *

Monkey and Mantis were taking to the various rooftops along the west side of the Valley in order to locate Po. Monkey and Mantis were glad to find that the western region of the Valley looked relatively unharmed. There were a couple of ransacked homes, but no villagers were in sight. They were probably hiding in their own homes or in someone else's in case theirs was uninhabitable due to the bandits.

After a brief period of sprinting along the roofs of houses, both the insect and the monkey caught sight of their giant panda friend battling vigorously against all the bandits within the area he was told to safeguard. The Dragon Warrior was currently pressed up against a wall of a sturdy home and barely deflecting blades just in time before they hit their target.

Although Po seemed to be unscathed, the panda was clearly growing more and more tired as each attempt at his death kept persisting, gradually siphoning his strength and stamina. Soon, the sound of labored breathing and desperate pants could barely be heard over all the bandits' battle cries and clanking of metal on metal, or rather, fists on metal armor.

Just as Po was about to fall victim to a stray crossbow bolt that was headed for the side of his jugular, a green blur showed up just in time to deflect the fatal shot. Mantis winked at the exhausted Dragon Warrior before slyly stating, "If you die before paying me in all those yuan you lost in our bets, then I'm taking it from either your corpse or your father's noodle shop."

"Sure," responded the Dragon Warrior sarcastically as he scooted over to make room for Monkey as the two new arrivals took their positions on either side of him. Even though Po may have looked reluctant to let Monkey and Mantis steal his upcoming glory, the panda was still glad nevertheless that the pair had shown up when they did.

The Dragon Warrior wasn't sure whether or not he could have maintained his firm defense against the relentless bandits any longer.

As the bandits continued rushing towards the trio of warrior's, Po announced quite proudly, "Prepare to be Five'd! Or- Three'd! You know what I mean!" Monkey and Mantis rolled their eyes at the slightly-cringy delivery of his catchphrase before letting out confident battle cries and rushing into the fray to intercept the bandits that all had deadly weapons pointed straight at their vital organs.

Today was either going to be a glorious day or a tragic one. Preferably, the one that made the Dragon Warrior look cooler when his current event would be written down on a scroll for historical purposes. Po ran full sprint at the bandits, who cowered back slightly when they saw the panda's sudden burst of energy and proceeded to beat them into the next dynasty along with his fellow masters, Mantis and Monkey.

* * *

Tigress was getting overwhelmed. She knew this would happen eventually as she decided to try and take things upon herself and reestablish control of the main region of the Valley of Peace where the bandits were likely the most densely-populated. The central district of the village was also the most destroyed. One of the countless bandits had gotten their hands on a blazing torch and did not hesitate in lighting the interior of one building on fire.

At first, that flames seemed stable, but a strong gust of wind quickly escalated the situation and rapidly spread to the nearby settlements like a virus. Unfortunately, Tigress wasn't around to put a stop to it at the time, thus ending up with the feline battling against bandits with a thick haze of smoke and red clouding her vision. The feline had to resolve this bandit infiltration. And fast. The endless flames were growing nearer and nearer as the wind was not in her favor and ignited the pace of the already speedy inferno.

Tigress was holding a defensive position at the central town square where an ornate water fountain still stood there. The water spewing out of the fountain contradicted the fiery mess that the entire central region of the Valley of Peace was in currently. The orange feline was, as of right now, combatting against five different bandits. Each one of the bandits were animals of different species, and had ranging weapons from a butcher's knife to a greatsword.

The one wielding the double-edged metal monstrosity was a burly crocodile, almost the size of Li-Dong, but not quite. Li-Dong had caused some problems for the Valley of Peace, but that was some time ago. He was currently residing within Chorh-Gom prison, along with Fung and the rest of his gang of crocs. Poor guys. They were sitting in a maximum security prison while most of their lot of miscreants were doing their stereotypically atrocious activities in the Valley. At least the bandits would theoretically be reuniting with them sooner or later.

Although, the bandits seemed to be taking their luxurious time in leaving the Valley. Some were even able to put up a decent fight against the feline, which ended up with her defeating them, but not without a new wound to add along with the myriad others already among her body.

Tigress's defense stance was a little unsteady due to the massive cut along the side of her calf, but she obviously did not allow her pain to reveal itself along her features. The bandits took their time to explore her lithe form with their eyes, and the feline growled at their pervertedness. It was the middle of the largest bandit raid possible in the history of banditry for heaven's sakes! Yet the five bandits were more focused on... other aspects of the bandit raid.

The feline assumed from the top of her head that rape was possibly something that was standing prominently in their testosterone-filled minds.

Tigress growled even louder when she saw one of the bandits literally drooling over her figure, his eyes seemingly about to bulge from their respective sockets. The bandit that was ogling her was holding a wicked looking meteor hammer. The orange feline kept this fact well embedded in her mind. If one knew how to effectively utilize one, then anyone fighting against a meteor hammer was certainly at a disadvantage, to say the least.

Eventually, the massive croc (Tigress assumed this one was the leader), chuckled at her feistiness and finally spoke for the first time since they cornered her at the water fountain. As he spoke, the sound of villagers screaming and bandits looting and pillaging anything in sight added a horrific sense of hopelessness to the feline's current situation. The flames and smoke emitting from burned or currently burning houses made Tigress feel trapped as the fire made a dark, sickly-looking, black cloud above the central district of the Valley of Peace.

"I see the kitty wants to play rough before we have our way with her..." The four bandits at his side all laughed maliciously along with him, their cold eyes betraying their dark thoughts to what they wanted to do to the striped master.

Tigress narrowed her eyes. "Can we just get to the battle you freaks? Tell you what, if you surrender yourselves right now without trying anything funny, I'll even ensure that you get a comfortable reservation at Chorh-Gom Prison."

"Tempting. But it wouldn't be very comfortable unless you were at my side in one of the cells," pitched in the bandit with the meteor hammer, which elicited a couple amused and likely aroused snickers from his fellow companions."

It was then that Tigress decided to end the pleasantries. The feline, even though multiple wounds and scratches were visible on her clothes and body, quickly spat out a lump of blood that had accumulated in her mouth and launched herself at the bandit who pitched in his suggestive remark, eliciting a startled squeal from him.

The now pinned down bandit tried to raise his weapon to defend himself from what was to occur, but Tigress expertly swatted the potential threat to the side with minimal effort. The weapon the bandit brandished so arrogantly clattered off to the side noisily, causing his companions to break out of their shocked stupor to aid their fallen comrade, but it was already too late.

Tigress had already brought her hardened fist to the bandit's skull and rendered him unconscious with a single firm punch that was equivalent to the strength she used to bring down the ironwood trees a fair distance away from the Jade Palace.

The incapacitated miscreant let out a soft moan of pain before closing his eyes with a pained grimace for, what the feline assumed, possibly the next couple hours. The remaining four bandits all growled threateningly at the feline that had taken them by surprise, each one holding their weapons directly at her once more.

 _"A butcher's knife, a long dagger, a sword, and of course that greatsword. This should be interesting,"_ mused the feline as she sized up the four other bandits to see which one could be taken out the easiest.

"Well? What's going to happen now Kitty? Having second thoughts?" The large croc bandit asked this with a clear hint of his questions being rhetorical.

 _"Hardly. I think I'll save you for last though. You might be the one to give me the biggest problems with that sword of yours. Now. Which bandit should I take out next?"_ Tigress kept her thoughts to herself, merely giving the croc bandit leader an unwavering stare whilst making his accomplices back off slightly in unsureness.

The feline was right about the croc's question being rhetorical, as he discreetly signaled for the three other bandits to follow his lead and watch his back, not expecting an answer from her. The bandit leader suddenly performed a large floor-sweep using his greatsword with his two hands in the hopes that he would gravely injure the feline master's ankles or render at least one of them useless.

The "under-swing" technique the bandit used never hit its mark. Tigress, being trained to avoid these things since she was a cub, acted on well-developed reflexes and nimbly hopped over the wide blade just before she got the bottom of her leg chopped off.

The bandit was surprised that the feline dodged his greatsword with much precision, but did not have time to react as the momentum of his swinging arms left his chest widely unblocked, excluding the light armor that was there to not restrict his movements as much as the usual heavy armor. Tigress, with her keen eyesight, had noticed this timely advantage and proceeded to roundhouse-kick his bulky frame into the bandits that were charging behind him.

The following bandits were unaware of how the head bandit played himself with his own weapon and ran full force at a hunk of two-hundred and fifty pounds crocodile. Obviously, the impact was not pleasant when the other bandits' faces collided with thick scaly hide.

Tigress inwardly flinched as a sickening crunch was heard after the impact and saw two of the three following bandits clutching their muzzles with both paws as well as dropping their weapons beforehand. The croc bandit staggered slightly and roared loudly once he was fully balanced on his two feet. The massive crocodile being angry was at the very most, a light way to sum up his emotion in his current situation.

The orange feline was about to follow up with another attack until she paused and saw three figures looming overhead on a nearby rooftop. The fire and deep smoke masked their presence and the feline squinted to try to make them out to no avail. The three newcomers had even attracted the attention of the remaining four bandits as they too stopped what they were doing.

Tigress gulped. There was no way that she could simultaneously take on seven bandits at once. Not in her current state, with her wounds sucking her energy dry like a parasite. She had to think out every attack she would do if she was to conserve her energy as much as possible.

The croc bandit leader seemed to come to the same conclusion as he smiled widely with clear evil in his intentions. This kitten was so done for if she wasn't already. He raised his greatsword to catch the eyes of the newcomers and lightly swayed it from side to side in benediction.

"Hey," shouted the croc, "you're a little late in showing up to the party! We're about to get ourselves a fine rug made of tiger skin! Either join us or leave us! I don't got all day, so make up your mind!"

The bandits behind him all shouted their agreements with the two injured bandits picking up their dropped weapons and swinging them around manically in anticipation. The three newcomers, still densely covered by smoke and flames, had not said a single word as this happened. Nor did they move an inch at the croc's invitation.

Tigress kept her gaze firmly locked on them while keeping her current dilemma within her peripheral vision. She didn't trust them to play it fair, judging by all the recent mayhem that they had caused. The flames stilled sounded ominously close to the fighters, and only added to the sense of desperation the feline felt ever since she discovered that the Valley of Peace was being attacked on all sides.

Just then, the croc bandit leader nearly choked on his own spit as well as almost dropping his massive blade when the three figures suddenly stepped forward, revealing their shapes out from the haze of shadow that concealed them so well. Tigress let out a loose smile of relief as she came to a realization as to who the mysterious figures were.

Master Shifu stood in the center on top of the burning building and was accompanied by Viper on his left and Crane on his right. The three Kung Fu masters surveyed the situation below them. They tried not to act surprised as they saw in full detail the extent of the feline's wounds, though she still noticed their shock. How was she still standing, much less not bleeding out with all the cumulative efforts of her wounds?

The red panda then lifted a single paw from where it lay idly on his side and pointed at the three bandits that were cowering in fear behind the massive crocodile. They seemed to nearly soil themselves as not a single word was spoken between the trio of new arrivals, yet Crane and Viper nodded wordlessly in understanding.

The tension that Master Shifu created was torturous, even to Tigress whose tail twitched in slight anxiety. Still, the red panda's arm stood horizontally and still indicated the three lower-ranking bandits compared to their leader. The croc bandit glared at the trio on the rooftops without so much as blinking. What was that red panda doing right now? Little did he know, Tigress was having similar thoughts.

It all happened in an instant.

After a seemingly infinite wait, where the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of flames and the far-off screams of both villagers and bandits, the trio acted with the speed of a lightning bolt.

With a single subtle, yet obvious snap of two of his fingers, Crane and Viper launched themselves towards the two bandits who previously had bloody muzzles and smashed their heads firmly into the ground, not killing them, but obviously giving them a lasting concussion when they woke up. Master Shifu flung himself at the third bandit, who was wielding the sword and did to him the same as what the two masters before him did to their bandits. The sword was sent flying into the air and twirled rapidly due to the quickness of Shifu's drop-attack.

Just the sword would clang loudly on the ground when it landed, Shifu grabbed it by its hilt just in the nick of time and pointed it against the croc bandit's jugular. His height limited him so that he just barely had to extend his back in order to accommodate for the distance between him and the crocodile bandit. The croc bandit was the only one that was still apt for battle. And he now had a sword pressed to his neck by someone that was only a quarter or his size.

The croc bandit gulped audibly. Shifu let out a grim smirk and even chuckled before lowering his sword and carefully sheathing it where it belonged on the unconscious bandit's hip. The blade clicked into position before Shifu finally turned around to face the crocodile. In all honesty, Shifu thought about using the sword to win this fight, but he was a little rusty and was unsure whether or not he could still use one after handling Grandmaster Oogway's staff for so long. Not that he would ever let his pupils know that.

It was the bandit leader going up against Master Shifu himself, and three members of the elite Furious Five. It looked like the odds had turned in favor for the Kung Fu masters. The crocodile converted his face from a look of shock into one that was frowning grimly in concentration. He got into an attack stance with him holding the hilt of his greatsword at hip level and directly in the area where his center of gravity was. Master Shifu then addressed the leader of the gang of bandits.

"Unless you want to join your 'friends', I'd advise that you calmly surrender and give up any weapon that you may have on you as of right now."

Tigress blinked at this unexpected deja-vu and said lightly, but firmly, "Master. I've already tried to convince him to cede. Unfortunately, you and I both know that he's not really going to the type that will easily turn himself in without much of a fight."

The croc bandit merely grinned sadistically, his previous stress over the situation already forgotten. "The kitten's right on that, much as I hate to admit it."

Master Shifu nodded slowly as if further assessing the situation. Crane and Viper, as well as the orange feline herself, looked towards their master for orders on what to do next. The red panda then sighed as if he had already expected the croc bandit to be a stubborn warrior. He was, in fact, true in his assumptions.

"I guess it can't be helped then," stated the red panda, "I'll try my best as well as the rest of my pupils to make this as quick and painless as possible. Kung fu master's honor. Now then..."

The quietness in the midst of battle resumed once more. Tigress did a quick scan over the potential threats of the crocodile in front of her. She gripped her left arm tightly with her right paw as she hissed quietly in pain. No one noticed her internal struggle, much to her relief. She didn't want to be taken out of helping the Valley of Peace from its bandit outbreak just yet.

The spot on her fur that Tigress was clutching was one of the multiple wounds she had endured before the crocodile bandit and his gang showed up to corner her at the water fountain. Before the gang's arrival, Tigress was already hard-pressed in defending and securing the central district of the Valley. The feline made it her priority to evacuate as many villagers and bring them to a safe environment before confronting the large amounts of bandits that had accumulated around the central region at the time.

Tigress was only able to save a handful of villagers before the bandits started demanding the most of her attention. She had stopped trying to rescue passersby from getting robbed as a lone, and possibly psychotically-challenged, bandit started this flaming mess around the entire central district of the Valley of Peace. The feline at the time had then started knocking bandits down and out of the way for a seemingly infinite amount of time. Unlike Po, she was not rescued as soon as him during her time and exhaustion and need and paid the price afterward.

With her vigorous amounts of training and firm discipline, the feline learned to cope with her draining stamina and avoid most fatal attacks that were directed towards her. Although she is an experienced kung fu warrior, she is still an animal and not indomitable. There was a point in which Tigress would receive a new wound for every bandit she came across, and needless to say, there were a LOT of bandits infesting her region of the Valley of Peace as if they were a swarm of locusts.

The wound on the orange feline's arm was the worst one she had received by far though. During a period when Tigress was mentally and physically drained, an especially cunning bandit had noticed the slip up in her defenses and lunged for her heart with a hastily grabbed spear. Tigress saw this just before she got skewered and managed to deflect its path. Unfortunately, the entire length of her left arm still had to take the brutal damage of the spear's tip instead.

The aftermath left a long and deep laceration that the feline had decided to ignore until the conflict was fully resolved. Her adrenaline rush aided her in ignoring the pain. For a while.

Now that she and her other allies were in a stage of "the calm before the storm", the effects of the spear had by now undoubtedly caught up with her. The pain was almost enough to make her pass out, but Tigress refused to show any sign of weakness towards the crocodile bandit. She merely dug in her two feet firmly into the hard ground beneath her and growled audibly. Master Shifu and the others noticed this but did not break eye contact with the crocodile bandit that was slowly edging closer and closer to them with his blade ready to slice at anything that was moving.

Shifu's face was calm and stoic, but anybody could see the storm of thoughts that was brewing in his mind as he tried to formulate a way to beat this massive adversary.

Suddenly, Master Shifu gave a confident nod of his head and the warriors from either faction, whether it be from the Jade Palace residents, or the bandit intruders, charged at each other, neither one wanting to lose to the other. Tigress quickly let go of her injured arm, and the crocodile bandit noticed this, before joining her fellow kung fu masters into the conflict.

An especially cruel idea formed in his mind before he gave his double-edged sword a massive swing, initiating that the fight was now resuming once more.

It was all or nothing now. And the croc leader was playing for keeps.

* * *

*THUNK*

*CLASH*

*SMACK*

*THUD*

The last bandit that tried to pillage the western side of the Valley of Peace was now unconscious and on the floor, but not before a pained grunt escaped his maw. His assailant was none other than the Dragon Warrior who finally let his shoulders slump down in exhaustion for the first time today. He looked like he was about to fall unconscious himself until he was brought to reality by a firm hand patting him on the back.

"Good job man! I'm surprised you held out this long when you can't even go up the steps without needing a ten-minute rest once you get on top!"

Po craned his neck over his shoulder to see Monkey now giving him a thumbs-up gesture in a congratulatory manner. The panda put both hands on his knees, looking like he was about to dry-heave before offering a faint outline of a satisfied smirk. This was by far the most amount of bandits he had ever taken out in one go, and he definitely was going to beg Master Shifu for an entire day off the next time he saw the red panda.

A mess of bandits was everywhere around him, Monkey and Mantis. The amount of defeated bandits that were moaning in pain as they lay sprawled on the floor incapacitated was enough to give the poor panda a migraine. The Dragon Warrior looked behind him and flinched. Po, Monkey, and Mantis had taken to using the entrance to Mr. Ping's restaurant as a reference point where they could fall back to and defend in case things got too out of hand. Now, Mr. Ping's shop was even worse than when he left prior to him meeting his two companions.

They should probably have thought of something different as Po's father would likely have a difficult time navigating around the mess of disarmed bandits that lay all over the street in front of his shop. Oh well. They say that being caught in a battle tampers with your common sense, and now Po, Monkey, and Mantis could very much prove that that statement was indeed true.

Mantis then asked the tired Dragon Warrior in a slightly timid manner, "Uhh, Po?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just KILL the last bandit? He's as still as a stone."

 _Uh oh..._

Po's eyes widened. He did feel that he had to conclude the last fight with a bang. He responded just as weakly to the green insect.

"I.. Umm. I may or may not have decided to put all my remaining energy into that guy's face, heheh. Should we tell Shifu?"

"Wait! No. He's still alive," chirped in Monkey as he felt the last bandit's neck for a pulse, which he found one still beating strongly.

The trio of warriors all sighed collectively in relief. None of them had killed anyone before unless you counted Po with Tai-Lung and Lord Shen, but those two were special occasions. Everything was quiet within the western region of the Valley, which meant that there were now no more bandits they had to either chase out or render unconscious.

Then, out of nowhere, the Dragon Warrior fell flat on his back in an empty space that wasn't occupied by a bandit, landing with a loud "oomph" for emphasis. Monkey and Mantis glanced at him questioningly. This was quite out of character for their normally energetic panda friend. They both approached him to ask him if he was alright, but then an even more unexpected thing occurred.

Po suddenly let out a low giggle. It wasn't that he giggled that was strange. It was the fact that Po did it just at his current situation when there was nothing to laugh at. Monkey and Mantis grew even more curious as to the panda's sudden happiness.

They both eventually reached the fallen Dragon Warrior after tripping over countless amounts or bandit bodies. Both stood above him (well Mantis stood on his rising and falling upper chest), and fixed him with a look of utter bafflement. Po merely grinned at the both of them with the largest grin that they had ever seen the panda possess on his facial features.

Suddenly, the panda reached up with both arms to grab Mantis with a single paw (much to his annoyance) and to tightly embrace his simian friend. The Dragon Warrior nearly crushed the lungs of Monkey as well as Mantis's trachea with the strength of his bear hug. Po made sure not to accidently squish his tiny insect master with his paw, but still did not relent in letting the poor bug out of his vice-like grip.

Both the langur and the green insect protested loudly as this happened, but their voices changed into a squeak as the air was forced out of themselves.

Afterward, the Dragon Warrior snickered quietly. The snickers eventually grew into light chuckles and would keep escalating from there. Monkey and Mantis looked at their panda friend as if he was insane, which was not far off from what he actually was feeling at the time. Money's brow was arched comically high as hs struggled to escape Po's grasp.

Eventually, the panda was able to squeeze a few words between his fits of laughter. Po looked upwards at the sky above them and whispered just barely audible enough for them to hear, "We actually survived..."

Both Mantis and Monkey let that statement sink in before reacting accordingly. Po's laughter gradually became guffaws as both the insect and the simian joined in on the hysterics. It was not long before the kung fu masters were laughing as if there was no tomorrow in all of the Valley of Peace. Maybe ALL of them were insane to a certain degree; their laughs would probably have attracted any bandits that were still able to fight to their location, that is, if there were any left.

Though they were kung fu masters trained in the advanced arts of combat, the odds of them living through an entire bandit in a large quarter of the Valley of Peace was almost next to none. All three warriors, while they were at their worst, all had separate thoughts during the battle of how they were going to die. Even the Dragon Warrior was unsure of whether or not they would live to see the next day.

And Po was considered to be the optimist of their group of warriors. That negativity spoke volumes of how adversities could even bring down the best and noble of fighters. Still, the trio persevered through their impossible odds and made it through to the end of the bandit raid.

After a few more bouts of uncontrolled laughter, Po finally released his two captives who glared at him at first before smiling in gratitude at relieving their tension. As they all got up to brush themselves off Po remembered what he had promised his father. It was convenient that they were at the entrance to his shop.

The panda hollered with both paws cupped around his mouth to make his voice travel further, "Dad! The west side of the Valley is safe now! You can come out now! Sorry for the mess in advance!"

Po only heard a barely audible snore in response. He rolled his eyes. Of course his father was somehow able to sleep through a full-scale bandit raid. He turned to his fellow masters, who looked like they were trying hard not to laugh at the elderly goose's ignorance of the entirety and direness of the situation.

Po spoke before they pair had time to offer their own witty remarks about the goose.

"So guys? Where to now?"

Both Monkey and Mantis's expressions became grim once more. Po raised both eyebrows in a subtle gesture to continue. Monkey cleared his throat before answering.

"We came here to serve as reinforcements before the guards at Chorh-Gom arrive. Master Shifu said that we should meet up with Tigress and the others once we're done here. The central region of the Valley of Peace is still overrun with bandits the last time we checked. We should probably make haste and head there right away."

Po's eyes widened. He totally forgot about meeting up to assist his feline companion after dealing with his situation. The Dragon Warrior wasted no time. His eyes hardened in a serious manner, causing Monkey and Mantis to back away from him slightly. It was rare when the panda was fully concentrated the way he was on a certain priority.

Mantis tried to offer a light chuckle to ease the tension that was growing once again.

"Heheh, something wrong there big guy-"

But Po was already running full sprint towards the general direction of where the central region of the Valley of Peace lay. Monkey and Mantis sighed collectively.

"Guess it's only natural," stated the simian, "...Shall we?"

Mantis stretched as much of his anatomy as he could before replying, "Let's".

Both Monkey and Mantis then ran as quickly as they could in order to maintain pursuit of the Dragon Warrior that was disappearing in the distance quite rapidly, even though the outline of his bulky frame was just barely visible.

* * *

Tigress watched as Crane tried to swoop down to drop-kick the large crocodile, but then saw him squawk in surprise as he just barely avoided getting his wing sliced off with the bandit leader's greatsword. Viper gasped at this. Master Shifu merely let out a small sigh of relief at the avian's swift evasion.

All four warriors were at this point just as wounded as Tigress herself. Master Shifu sported a large, almost yellow looking bruise on the side of his head from getting hit with the butt of the hilt from the greatsword repeatedly before Viper narrowly rescued him. Viper, in turn, got myriad scratches ranging in size from all the different times she had attacked the crocodile only for his unnaturally spiky scales to penetrate her own thin layered ones.

Crane was almost as bad as Tigress in terms of external damage. The avian lost his signature rice hat a while ago after the crocodile swung at it and the chopped pieces blew away in the wind, disappearing when it reached the engulfing fire that surrounded the fighters.

Crane's feathers were ruffled from the constant stress of narrowly avoiding a lethal attack, and the talons at the end of his long feet were chipped and broken after the bandit leader would block his aerial attacks with the flat end of his sword.

Tigress herself had taken to trying to do the best she could to assist her teammates in the fight. Master Shifu and the others had noticed how the feline seemed to be struggling to maintain herself. All except Tigress herself unanimously agreed to tell her to ease off from the match and let them handle it. Obviously, it wasn't going too well for the trio that was fighting against the bandit.

The feline pitched in every now and then to swipe at the bandit with her claws, but would not be very successful as her grunts of pain alerted the crocodile of her position at all times so he could easily avoid her.

Suddenly, as Tigress watched in surprise, Crane, Viper, and Master Shifu all lunged towards the crocodile in a synchronous manner. They engaged the massive bandit from three different angles as if there was an unspoken agreement between them again.

It was disastrous this time. The crocodile bandit leader simply snorted in irritation before doing a tail whip with his armor-plated tail in a full rotation. The three assailants all fell back with loud grunts of discomfort as they all got one new injury to add to the myriad others.

Tigress widened her eyes in shock as she saw the cuts on Viper grow wider and wider as she fought to ignore the pain of all the seeping wounds. Crane now clearly had a dislocated wing and was trying his best to maintain standing on his two legs while his injured appendage stuck out awkwardly from his side. Both kung fu masters were near the end of their rope. This crocodile leader was just too powerful.

They had all collectively been fighting each other for quite some time now. Although the kung fu warriors fought valiantly, there was not much sign of their efforts upon the crocodile. His sword was coated in blood, and his arms trembled slightly from the over-exertion of his energy, but he seemed fine otherwise.

He let out a loose grin. "One down," said the massive brute, "three more to go."

That was when Tigress followed with her eyes to where Master Shifu was. The elderly red panda was found face-first into the ground a fair distance away. Shifu was probably sent flying due to the strength of the unexpected and cowardly attack from the bandit.

The tail whip from the bandit had hit Shifu square on the side of his head where his already sickly-looking bruise resided. It was an insult to injury, and Tigress's eyes dilated when she noticed her lifelong master and adoptive father broken and unconscious at the scene of a conflict. Shifu twitched once, then was still. He wasn't actually dead yet, but it sure did look like it.

Crane watched remorsefully as he couldn't do anything else to contribute to the fight with his injured wing, and Viper fought back the tears that threatened to consume her vision in the midst of battle again. With Shifu incapacitated and Crane out for the count, that left only a gravelly injured Tigress as well as Viper to defend the central region of the Valley from this sadistic brute.

Tigress limped over to where Crane and Viper was and placed a firm paw on Crane's shoulder.

"I'm going to take him down. You stay here and protect Shifu," commanded the feline. Crane looked like he was about to argue but instantly closed his bill when he noticed the murderous expression that Tigress currently had on her face. He shuddered inwardly, though nobody seemed to notice, much to his relief.

Viper too gave a friendly flick to the avian's leg, though it was significantly weaker than she had intended it to be, and agreed with what the feline had ordered him to do.

Crane nodded once in numb understanding before carefully scooting him and the red panda out of the way in order to make room for the three remaining fighters in the battlefield. Tigress walked as steadily as she could to the crocodile bandit, who watched with sadistic pleasure as he noticed the obvious disadvantage in one of her legs.

He smirked in satisfaction as he remembered when the feline had tried to attack him with a downwards flip-kick only for him to deftly bring the sword up against him like a shield. He also twisted his blade in such a way that blocking most of the damage would not recoil back at him, but to the feline's heel.

Tigress could feel her right heel still dripping warm blood from her careless mistake, but got into an attack stance. She as well as the others had probably taken down an army of bandits already, and this one was probably the last one that posed a major threat. With him gone, the rest of the bandits would hopefully flee the Valley with the knowledge that their main champion was defeated.

Viper realized just how crucial this battle was in reducing the morale of any bandit, and formed a pose that supported Tigress's aggressive positioning.

The orange feline slowly released a breath that she had been holding for quite some time. A growl rose from deep within her throat, signaling for her and Viper to strike, and both did not hesitate. Tigress, though severely weakened, managed to score a two-finger strike on the massive bandit's eyes before she was sent flying away due to the impact of the hilt of a greatsword coming to meet with her nose.

The croc bandit shrieked as blood seeped through the wound on his eye and Tigress clutched her nose with grim satisfaction. The feline watched as Viper took advantage of this and tried to disarm the lead bandit of his troublesome weapon. The snake was in the process of doing this, but then the croc bandit, now fully enraged, let loose a blood-curdling yell. He dropped his signature weapon (much to Viper's surprise) and reached with his now unoccupied arm to strangle the life out of the reptile.

Viper coughed as the sudden movement of the croc's hard scales cut deep into her already open wounds and his massive hand reached around her neck. Tigress saw this and tried to limp towards the crocodile as quickly as she could to rescue her friend.

The snake tried to call for help but found her throat closed almost to a fatally threatening level. Crane too ran as fast as his legs could take him to save Viper. The avian was just about to pry the bandit's hand off of her, but his other hand reached around to sock him in the skull, knocking him a fair distance away and landing him next to Shifu. Both male warriors were now officially out of the battle.

Viper let the tears she had tried to suppress fully fall down her face now as she realized the hopelessness of the situation. Tigress started stumbling and coughing up blood as she fought to make her injured leg work in her favor, picking up her pace. The snake started to see black and after a brief period of terror-inducing cackles coming from the crocodile bandit, she was out cold.

The laugh that came from the leader was making the feline's blood boil with anger. The croc's laugh was what had infuriated Tigress. He was honestly pleased that he had managed to take out three Kung Fu masters consecutively and all in the same day. Tigress too felt horrible down to her bones as she realized with horror that she was the only one left standing between the full-scale bandit raid and the Valley of Peace.

The croc bandit leader came to the same conclusion as the feline. He gave her a ridiculing look before throwing the unconscious snake at her feet and scoffing at her.

"Well, well Kitty. Are you THAT useless that you can't even save someone when you were given three perfectly good chances? How disappointing..."

Those words stopped Tigress right where she was. She had at first planned on finishing off the bandit or as least weaken him before she too was taken out of the fight. The croc's words sunk in deep into her fur, even going past her hard, stoic heart. Tigress tried to say something, but no words were coming out. Then, the feline felt something prick at her consciousness. Was it remorse? Maybe even sadness?

No... It couldn't be possible. Tigress had learned to shut out these feelings for years. Yet why was it revealing itself so prominently right now? Was it because that some part of her fully believed the bandit's cruel taunts? Seeing Master Shifu, Crane, and Viper like they were only made her heart sink lower into her stomach.

The bandit leader continued in his insults. "...I expected more from the leader of the Furious Five. Yet, you've done the least out of all three of them. Perhaps you should go back into familiar territory, Kitty. Leave the hard stuff to those who actually try, if you know what I mean. Someone's got to be the weak link in a chain, much as I hate to admit it."

Tigress eyes grew unfocused as she wiped away at the tears. Tears. Coming from Master Tigress. The feline looked on in disbelief as puddles of sadness and anguish fell from her eyes, down her chin and to the solid ground below. The croc bandit was right. She was a failure. She couldn't even protect the central region of the Valley of Peace from a measly bandit.

Still, the crocodile offered no mercy in his merciless verbal abuse. "Oh my! Is the Great Master Tigress actually crying? I can't believe it. Instead of doing the sensible thing and trying to avenge her comrades, she's instead wallowing deep in her own self-pity and misery. How pathetic. Shifu would be disappointed."

Tigress couldn't take it anymore. She roared loudly. Tears were now freely falling down her face as she announced her inner turmoil out into the black sky above. The croc bandit smiled widely, knowing that he had struck a nerve. Tigress kept going at that until her voice grew hoarse from all the exertion. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she saw her tormentor.

The croc bandit finally picked up the greatsword that he had dropped and swung it lazily, almost in a teasing manner.

"Alright then. I see you're furious. Why don't you take it out one me? Prove yourself!"

The feline needed no other motivation. She growled loudly, almost to a point where it sounded feral, and hurled herself at the bandit, who was ready and in a defensive position with his greatsword. Tears still fell from her face, but she refused to let them distract her from defeating this sadistic demon of a bandit.

It was an honorable attempt. Even the croc bandit leader thought this. But it was useless in the end. For every strike the hysterical feline delivered, she was met with a firm defense along with a painful counterattack that sent her reeling backwards with a new injury. She didn't care anymore. All Tigress wanted to do was put the bandit in his place. Or die trying.

The angered feline lunged again, always ending up with the same outcome. An even more broken dignity and more wounds to add to the collection. Maybe even an amused chuckle from the bandit if she was unlucky. Still, she kept fighting even when her vision was clouded by her own despair and desperation. Tigress was now relying heavily on one leg and the arm that was bleeding refused to move on its own at this point.

The croc admired the feline's courage and perseverance but soon grew bored of her stubborn and meritless antics. While Tigress was limping as quick as she could towards him, she raised a single arm to try to nail him in the face. The bandit leader rolled his eyes and sheathed his greatsword so that it was slung idly over his back and shoulders. He expertly caught the weak punch sent by the feline and held on to it lightly, but with a strong enough grip to keep her in place.

Tigress was shocked as the bandit was toying with her. She tried to pull her hand away to no avail. The bandit merely frowned at her unwavering will to fight. He sighed when the feline's fruitless attempts were starting to annoy him. Suddenly, the croc bandit then crushed the paw he was restraining with as much strength as he could put into his massive scaly hand. Tigress winced in pain before letting out a sharp hiss as she felt the bones in her paw break under the pressure.

The bandit was still not satisfied. He surprisingly tightened his grip with even more strength than before.

"Louder! I want you to scream in agony! Or should I grip your fist even harder!" The bandit leader demanded this while Tigress eventually let out the tiniest of a whimper, much to her humiliation. The croc's eye narrowed as his seemingly perpetual frown went even lower. He was still not pleased, even though none had ever reduced the feline to such a state and survived long enough to boast about it.

"A WHINE SIMILAR TO A LOWLY MUTT! CLOSE, BUT NOT WHAT I WANT! GIVE ME MORE! LET ME HEAR YOUR PATHETHIC CRIES FOR HELP!"

Tigress refused to uphold the bandit's wishes. Although she now felt nothing in her right paw, her brain was sending signals of immense suffering and a white-hot light entered her vision as she struggled to keep her mouth shut. No matter what, she would not let the leader know that he finally got to her. She would never allow anyone to have that pleasure. Blood was now rapidly seeping through whatever space that was not occupied by the croc's paw and exiting the feline's mangled paw. Tigress was hurting badly, but she still held firm to her resolve.

The bandit who was torturing her let out a huff of frustration. This feline was really testing his patience. He then forced Tigress on the ground so that she was standing on her knees. While the feline was looking down at the blood-stained ground in pain, the bandit used his other hand that wasn't crushing hers and forced the pain-stricken feline to look at him. Tigress fought hard to stay conscious, which proved to be more and more difficult as all her wounds throbbed in unison.

The bandit got all up close and personal to her face before whispering, "This is what happens when people don't know when to quit."

With an excruciating force, the bandit brought his knee to the feline's chest, knocking all the air out of her lungs before continuing in his assault and with his dull claws, slit her ankles. This time Tigress actually let out a pained scream, full of emotion and helplessness. Both her legs were now unable to work. The bandit leader then got up and slowly wiped the blood off of his claws. He smiled, accomplishing his original goal.

Tigress had officially had enough by now. She was beaten and brutalized by a sadist who enjoyed breaking her of all people. She tried to muster what honor she had left and tried to crawl away from the victorious bandit. She was now bleeding profusely everywhere on her body, her orange fur now a sickly red color. But the bandit leader refused to let his playtoy escape his clutches. He slowly walked over to the broken feline that was desperately trying to get away from him and flipped her over so that her back was on the ground and she was facing him.

He slowly lifted the greatsword behind his back from its respective sheath with a single muscled arm, putting on a show to further intimidate the temporarily crippled feline. The metal of the blade glinted dangerously as the burning flames from the building behind it highlighted its vicious and lethal qualities. He slowly brought it down to her face and made an effort to slowly stroke the feline's cheek in a taunting manner before placing it firmly in the center of her neck.

Tigress could only watch in horror as the croc's smile grew wider and wider as she realized what he was about to do. This was going to be a memorable moment both in the history of bandits as well as kung fu masters. Might as well enjoy the moment. He spoke slowly and smoothly, addressing the feline for the last time.

"Any last words, Master Tigress? They'll go down in history scrolls for generations to come. You'd better choose wisely."

But Tigress had already given up. She didn't have any more tears to cry. She cried herself dry within the last hour. She didn't have any strength or energy to spare left. She was mentally as well as physically beaten, by a bandit of all people. She tried to muster up what courage she had left. She wouldn't beg for her life. She refused to acknowledge that she was beaten; she was merely disabled in an unfair manner by a rogue-ish brute. Tigress then accepted her fate.

The feline took in what was assumed to be her last full breath. She closed her eyes as she felt the cold, unforgiving steel of the greatsword pressed itself even further into her throat. She felt it nick a part of her skin but still did not open her eyes.

She simply said with no emotion, "Make it quick."

Her voice came out as a rasp, but her request still reached the croc's ears. He smiled cruelly and stated, "Poor choice, Kitten."

He was not going to follow her request as a last attempt at spite, so he brought it high above his head with two arms. Tigress realized this, but still did not do anything to flee. She was still kneeling in front of him helplessly, but she did not wish to keep Grandmaster Oogway in the Spirit Realm waiting for her for too long. She mentally said her goodbyes, letting her last droplet of tears make its way down to the cold ground beneath her. She was done for. She thought about the closest people she had as a family.

She thought about Mantis and Monkey. She assumed they were unconscious as well as the rest of the Furious Five. Or even dead. She reminisced on all the happy memories they had shared together during training. She thought about Master Shifu, who even in the darkest times of her training when she felt the least amount of affection from him, still cared about her deeply in secret while making her the fine warrior that she was right now.

Then, she thought about Po. An image of his robust figure popped into her mind and she remembered how much he did for her and the rest of the Furious Five members in changing things for the better for them. She felt a pain in her heart, but it was not from all the wounds that she endured. She thought about all the times she personally shared with her irritating, but endearing companion. How his goofy smiles always made her smile back, or how he would always go out of his way to socialize with her, no matter how many times she pretended to not enjoy his company.

She adored him greatly. No. Scratch that. She loved him. If there was one thing that the feline would regret doing, it was that she never truly told Po her feelings for him, even if he had a chance of not returning them. If would still be good to get this weight off of her shoulders before she died. It is too late for that now, thought the feline remorsefully.

 _"It is too late for that now,"_ thought the feline sadly.

The bandit leader was shrouded in shadow as his mighty weapon gleamed dangerously above him. Tigress opened her eyes to see this, but they were dull and nonchalant. She was ready for whatever was coming to her. The croc bandit wasted no time in bringing his sword down. She closed her eyes once more for what she assumed to be the last time.

 _"This is it,"_ thought Tigress, _"this is how my story concludes. Po... If you can somehow hear me, I only wish that I told you how much you meant to me..."_

Suddenly, a surprised grunt came from the bandit leader and the feline felt a gush of wind. Tigress also heard a slightly pained grimace as she felt a warm liquid splash her in the face. Tigress timidly opened her eyes and gasped in shock.

In front of her, blocking the blade above her with his two paws and still keeping the greatsword from ending her life was none other than the Dragon Warrior. Po exhaled slowly as he let his body get adjusted to the new feeling of pain that came from where his two paws took the impact of the blade. The panda pushed forward with all his strength to throw the large crocodile off of him, to which he succeeded. Monkey and Mantis rushed to where Tigress was and hauled her to the rest of the unconscious warriors.

Mantis and Monkey eyed them all in concern. Especially Tigress. She was barely recognizable with her fur being the color of both hers as well as everyone else's blood that was caused by the merciless bandit. The feline at this point could barely keep her eyes open. The overall blood loss from her wounds was finally getting to her. Still, she kept her eyes trained on her savior. She saw him with the most serious face that she had ever seen him have on his features.

She barely realized that Po commanded Mantis and Monkey to do something before seeing them both nod and take defensive positions around her and the rest of the Jade Palace residents.

She saw the croc bandit open his mouth to let out an irritated screech, but she couldn't hear anything. She then saw him charge at the panda, his eyes promising a lifetime of suffering and malice as the panda maintained his firm stare and got into a peculiar stance. Tigress would not have believed it had she not been there, but she suddenly saw a blur of black and white as the Dragon Warrior effortlessly deflected the greatsword that was swung at him. The croc bandit seemed to have passed through thin air, and he turned around to find the panda slowly turn around to face him again as he copied the same pose as his previous one.

Tigress smirked for the first time in a while when she recognized Po's "Inner Peace" technique.

This infuriated the croc even more. Tigress assumed that the bandit leader's growl was quite loud as both Monkey and Mantis flinched at the sound before the bandit ran at him full speed again. It kept going like this for a while. With the Dragon Warrior effortlessly defending himself against the deadly greatsword and the crocodile getting more and more irritated. The Dragon Warrior did not show his usual excitement as this happened, and was instead as composed as Tigress herself when she was training.

On and on this went. Neither the panda nor the croc bandit giving up the battle that was clearly one sided. Eventually, the croc realized that using his greatsword was useless and he smashed it into the ground, breaking it out of pure frustration. The shards of the sword went everywhere and one even impaled his thigh, but he didn't seem to care. The bandit leader was breathing heavily and his eyes were narrowed in anger.

Po himself remained impassive as this happened. Tigress watched from her perspective on the ground as the Dragon Warrior got into a normal Kung Fu stance and beckoned the crocodile over as if he was inviting him to come and kill him. Tigress saw the panda's lips move in an assumingly mocking manner due to how Mantis and Monkey were egging him on as the bandit rushed at him once more with both of his scaly fists raised.

Just then, something even more unexpected occurred. Even with her vision clouding and the flames obscuring most of the fight, she saw a menacing look upon the Dragon Warrior's expression. His eyes glinted with something that Tigress assumed to be subtle anger as he not only deflected the croc's pitiful punch but launched a volley of punches and kicks himself. Tigress watched with awe as none of the bandit's attacks were hitting their target but instead were being turned around into an exposed opening for the panda to strike through.

The croc said something inaudible to the feline's ears, but Po responded with a seemingly witty response, a shadow of his usual self showing up during their fight before the panda decided to go all serious again. This time, the Dragon Warrior rushed at the bandit leader. The crocodile had no time to react as Po caught him in a deadly armlock that Tigress taught him herself as she watched on proudly. Tigress heard him move his lips and speak directly near the croc's ear as he could and saw his eyebrow furrowed in fury.

She saw the bandit gulp nervously as Po seemed to gesture towards Tigress's general area. The croc stuttered to come up with a response. Tigress was about to fully fall unconscious at this point but forced herself to hold on a just little bit longer. She had to know what happened next. Monkey and Mantis gave her a look of worry before she barely waved a paw to tell them that they could concentrate on the match again.

In the small span of time when the feline wasn't watching, the panda had now gotten the croc bandit leader in a Wu-Xi Finger Hold. Tigress's eyes widened as much as they could when she saw this. Was the panda actually going to go as far as to banish him? Apparently, he was. Tigress saw a border of black mist enter her vision before she weakly pushed it away with reluctance. The idea of sleeping was becoming more and more tempting at this point, much to the feline's dismay.

Tigress's vision became extremely blurry, but she could still make out the shapes of the people around her. She saw that Po was apparently scolding the croc bandit as she noticed him on his knees seemingly begging to be spared. Tigress thought that using the Wu-Xi Finger Hold was a bad idea assuming the rest of the village was almost in a destroyed state, and Monkey and Mantis seemed to be thinking the same thing.

The feline saw both the insect and the langur mouthing words such as what she assumed to be, "TOO MUCH!", or "OVERKILL!", or even "YOU'RE INSANE!" at one point. The Dragon Warrior seemed to pay no attention to their discouragements as the feline watched on with a peaked curiosity as Po quickly lifted a finger.

Tigress's hearing was impaired due to all the blood that escaped her bloodied eardrums, but she could already tell that the entire place was dead silent as they all anticipated what was going to happen next. The feline noticed that Mantis was clinging on tightly and hiding behind Monkey's neck while seeing him do nothing as he watched with a quivering tail that refused to stop twitching.

It all happened in slow-motion to Tigress. She saw everything. From the fire in the background that was slowly dying, to the hysterically horrified expressions on a certain pair of Kung Fu masters, to the look on the croc's face, to Po pinky finger. She watched with fascination as she saw the digit slowly go down all the way as well as watching the panda's lips form something like... "Ska-doosh"?

After that, the feline was met with a bright light and couldn't see for quite some time. Her eyes squinted from the intensity of the technique and could not open them anymore as the blinding lights started to burn her eyes.

When the visual impairments finally subsided, Tigress finally opened her eyes and gasped, though it was hard for her to take in air. All around her the flames that once towered over settlements were gone and instead of there being a black, smoke-induced sky, there was a crimson sunset. The bright orange rays seeped into the environment around her as she saw the rest of the Furious Five. Monkey and Mantis were hugging each other and probably celebrating loudly, teasing each other for how childish they screamed when Po released his ultimate technique.

Tigress lightly smiled and it only grew larger as she saw Crane, Viper, and Master Shifu all finally regain consciousness and run towards the Dragon Warrior. The Dragon Warrior... Tigress swiveled her eyes as much as she could to see him. There he was. Panting tiredly as if he had just run up and down the Jade Palace steps ten consecutive times due to Master Shifu's given punishment.

Po had his hands on his knees but sported the largest smile on his face as he realized that they had all finally won. The fiery spirit of the bandit outbreak/raid was finally quenched by none other than the Furious Five, Master Shifu, and of course, the Dragon Warrior himself. Tigress smiled widely this time, not caring if anyone noticed it. She had been saved, and it was all thanks to Po and his antics.

Tigress was propped upright against the structure of the water fountain as she saw her diverse family embrace each other, Po doing the most of the embracing once he finally came to his senses. The thick rays of the sunlight illuminated all of the warriors that Tigress saw in front of her. So much that the feline even wished that she could hire an artist to construct a painting that she could have for safe keeping.

It was a wonderful sight, seeing how excited and content her family members were as they congratulated a slightly blushing Po on being the main savior of the Valley of Peace. Tigress's smile only increased as she remembered what she promised to herself just before death was about to embrace her. She saw him, standing humbly in the center of all the group of warriors as they patted him on the back in a friendly manner.

Po.

Those two letters that changed Tigress's life. The second he fell from the sky in a blazing inferno at the tournament that selected who would possess the title of "The Legendary Dragon Warrior".

Tigress thought about how all the features that made her fall for him so hard and like a love-struck teenager. His signature smile that never wavered, no matter what. His extremely fluffy figure that Tigress wished she could actually feel. His adorable senses and morals as he would always wear his ragged pants. He refused to wear anything more expensive.

Tigress also reminisced in his endearing personality. Like how he would always go out of his way to assist her when she needed it. Or how he always remembered that Tigress loved fried tofu no matter how many times she claimed it was unhealthy for people to eat. Tigress quietly let out an airy sigh. She was grateful that she got a second chance to confess to Po her feelings, and now she was going to uphold her promise.

She loved the Dragon Warrior. And that was as simple as all the emotions she felt towards him could boil down to. Po was the missing piece that made her whole, even though she didn't realize it at first. Now, Tigress couldn't picture what her life would be like if Po had never shown up when he did.

Tigress then saw Po's marvelous jade green eyes turn towards her direction. She loved how they widened adorably before she heard a heavily muffled, "Tigress!". The feline then saw the others around him react with the same shock as they all raced to where she was against the water fountain. She was still heavily wounded and blood seeped through her wounds like a gushing river. Though the feline was beyond caring at this point. She became enraptured in the magnificent color of his eyes as they sparkled with concern.

The feline tried to reassure him and say everything was alright, but she only managed to cough hoarsely in acknowledgment. Tigress decided to just smile to communicate that she was fine. She saw Master Shifu and Viper rush off to get medical help as the others crowded around her with Po in the center. Although everyone was around her, Tigress could only see Po as her vision narrowed as the black mist returned and clung to her peripheral vision. This time, she let them travel all the way to the center of her vision.

Before letting that happen though, she suddenly reached up with all her strength to plant a passionate kiss in the ever surprised panda. He struggled at first, but then quickly returned it, eliciting a purr from Tigress, something she had long since forgotten how to do. Eventually, Tigress had to separate herself from the Dragon Warrior and smirked when she saw the shocked faces of her fellow companions as well as the confused, but content expression that Po had.

Tigress's eyes started to close officially, and she broke the trance that Po was in as he then held on tightly to her shoulders and formed with his lips her name in worry. The feline finally decided to let unconsciousness travel through her body as she finally gave in to the temptation of resting. The last words she heard before being out of it entirely was, "Wait! Tigress! I love you too! Don't go!"

The feline closed her eyes, but a satisfied smile was still present on her face even while she fell unconscious. Tigress had a LOT of explaining to do to Master Shifu and to the Furious Five as well as to Po himself once she woke up, but she knew she would eventually cross that bridge when she reached it.

Nevertheless, she would never have known that Po returned her feelings until she finally kissed him fully on the lips.

And the striped feline lay there, with Po cradling her in her arms like an infant while Master Shifu and Viper rushed in with a local doctor. The feline was now completely oblivious to what was going on right now. The sun in the distant sky was finally receding to make way to the moon, but last rays still shone brightly over the entire Valley of Peace. A breeze pushed the leaves from the ironwood trees behind the Jade Palace and into the clouds above before disappearing for good.

A peach petal fell from the Sacred Peach Tree of Wisdom and followed the other ironwood tree leaves' path into the distant sky. Po looked up to follow the trail the peach petal was taking as it had caught his attention and floated upwards into the rapidly rising moon. Po blinked in surprise when he thought he saw the silhouette of Grandmaster Oogway grinning brightly down at him and the feline he was holding before blinking once more to see him gone. As Po held on to the finally resting master of Tiger Style Kung Fu, he had a tender smile on his face as he leaned down to examine the various stripes upon his lover's head.

Po leaned down even more to whisper three choice words and could have sworn that he even saw Tigress's ears twitch when he said this. It was three words that summed up all his affection for her in a single phrase.

 _"I love you..."_

* * *

 ** _THE END_**

* * *

 **Author's Note: I did it! :D HAHA! Tbh, while I was making this "one-shot" I had major doubts of whether or not I would even be able to finish it. This is the longest one that I have ever written his far in the history of my account at FanFic. I hope it met all your expectations. Anyways, this story is dedicated to the #KFPFRIEND2016 competition by 3431jess! I got nothing more to say, so I'll see you all in the next story! ;p**


	2. Author's Note

**Hey all you readers/writers out there! I'm pleased with all the feedback that this particular one-shot of mine has received so far. This one took a lot out of me and I'm glad that the finished product reflects my efforts. Actually, I use the term "finished" extremely loosely right now. That's right! You guessed it! This one-shot will not be a one-shot any longer due to positive reviews and I'm going to add another lengthy chapter along with the first one.**

 **Who knows, I might even make this certain story one of my main priorities (If people think it's THAT good). Anyways, the first chapter is exactly 20,000 words long, but it will most definitely be a little longer than that after I slightly modify the story to better transition into my planned next chapter. It's not slightly remade (yet) so that being said, you don't HAVE to re-read chapter one to understand because it is currently a one-shot.**

 **Moving on, my point is that once I upload the next chapter for Discreet Affection, you may have to skim over chapter one to refresh yourself of the plot as I will have also edited it. Don't worry, I won't make major changes, just enough so that I have something to work with for the draft of my next chapter.**

 **Okay, this one was just me rambling off the top of my head, so here's a recap:**

 ***I'm making a Part II :D**

 ***You might wanna reread Part I after the release of Part II to better understand it, but you don't have to**

 ***Obviously, Discreet Affection will not be a one-shot any longer. (I think that's a good thing due to the demand for more).**

 **So that's it for now! Sorry for raising your hopes to those of you who got excited at this thing showing up as updated on your screen. :( Don't worry, Chapter 2 will inevitably be out after you see this, though I'm not sure how long the delay will be.**

 **Alright, I've said everything that needs to be said, so enjoy the rest of your day/night and I'll hopefully talk to you all again in the next chapter!**


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